2008.12.05: December 5, 2008: Headlines: COS - Mali: Third Goal: Wicked Local Plympton: Gretchen Snoeyenbos has spent the last two years living in a small town in Mali that she said in many ways resembled any American small town

Gretchen Snoeyenbos has spent the last two years living in a small town in Mali that she said in many ways resembled any American small town

“Every Peace Corps volunteer goes out there thinking they’ll save the world, but you can’t as a Westerner. You can’t go into another culture and save them. People ultimately do that work themselves,” she said. “So what is your role then? We each come up with an answer tailored to our own experience.” Snoeyenbos said part of her role was helping Malians change certain behaviors, like not washing their hands. “Washing your hands is No. 1 thing you can do to prevent diarrheal diseases,” she said. Snoeyenbos said she loved living in Dioila and misses it. She described the people as open, hard-working and proud, with a long self-identity going back to Sundiata Keita, who was the basis for the story of “The Lion King.” “We get a very interesting perspective on cultures in the Peace Corps because we live with people at the same economic level and you speak local languages, so you really do get led into people’s lives in a much more equal way than in other cases, and you participate in everything that goes on in your town. It’s an intensive experience,” she said. “The work you do and the people you meet are really exciting.”

Gretchen Snoeyenbos has spent the last two years living in a small town that she said in many ways resembled any American small town: “awesome” people, everyone knowing each other and everyone being involved in everyone else’s business.

The difference is that this small town, Dioila, Mali, was in West Africa, mostly Muslim and her host family practiced polygamy — three host moms for one host dad.

Snoeyenbos, a 26-year-old Halifax resident, returned home in September and will fulfill a goal of the Peace Corps by bringing Malian culture back to America. She will give a free talk at the Merry Room at the Duxbury Free Library on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 2 p.m. Snoeyenbos’ mother Ellen is young adult librarian at the library.

“That’s what I’m most excited to talk about: what Malians are like. This was part of Kennedy’s vision of the Peace Corps,” Snoeyenbos said.

Snoeyenbos was a water and sanitation volunteer in Dioila, a town of 12,000 to 15,000 people 40 kilometers (slightly less than 25 miles) off the paved roads. She helped install latrines and microseptic tanks in the hospital there. The town also has a high school, a bustling market and many subsistence farms.

In her talk, titled “My Peace Corps Experience and How Saving the World Wasn’t Really the Point,” Snoeyenbos said she would talk about her role as a volunteer, different models of development and how the Peace Corps fits in.

“Every Peace Corps volunteer goes out there thinking they’ll save the world, but you can’t as a Westerner. You can’t go into another culture and save them. People ultimately do that work themselves,” she said. “So what is your role then? We each come up with an answer tailored to our own experience.”

Snoeyenbos said part of her role was helping Malians change certain behaviors, like not washing their hands.

“Washing your hands is No. 1 thing you can do to prevent diarrheal diseases,” she said.

Snoeyenbos said she loved living in Dioila and misses it. She described the people as open, hard-working and proud, with a long self-identity going back to Sundiata Keita, who was the basis for the story of “The Lion King.”

“We get a very interesting perspective on cultures in the Peace Corps because we live with people at the same economic level and you speak local languages, so you really do get led into people’s lives in a much more equal way than in other cases, and you participate in everything that goes on in your town. It’s an intensive experience,” she said. “The work you do and the people you meet are really exciting.”

Snoeyenbos said Mali was an interesting country because it’s 90 percent Muslim. It is also a functioning democracy and a Millennium Challenge country, which means it met good governance requirements that enable it to receive funding and aid. Snoeyenbos also said the country is increasingly an ally to America in the global war on terror.

“It’s an interesting way to look at issues, as they’ve dealt very progressively with a lot of social issues while retaining their Islamic and West African identity. So it’s cool,” she said.

Snoeyenbos worked closely with Bob Dray’s fifth-grade class at Halifax Elementary School through the Paul Coverdell Worldwide School program. Students spoke to her in Mali on the phone, and Snoeyenbos visited their classroom in June. Snoeyenbos is currently preparing to apply to medical school.

Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL InterviewPeace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez.

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Story Source: Wicked Local Plympton

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